Never made any blanket statements, ways qualified them as this a bit more complicated. On a car without EBD and no other mods, which has braking system already generating enough braking torque to reach grip limits of the stick tyres at all speeds installation of bigger brakes at the front and hence shifting the brake balance forward WILL increase stopping distance, fact. Add EBD and all bets are off as it should be able ro compensate for that and direct less pressure to front brakes, retaining braking performance and running rakes cooler because of that I.e. good for track use.

Does the vRS gain much from just a simple pad upgrade,maybe EBC green or yellowstuff? Are they 288mm standard?

What us really comical is the fact that people who never read a paragraph of mechanical engineering theory tend to become self professed authorities just because they wallets say they spend enough money with tuners who MUST know what they are doing by definition ( some cannot even resolve such a basic problem as misfire lol). Again, human psychology is a wonderful thing and subconsciously works wonders for us all to keep us from depression.

Then you have ones who's self confessed indolence still propels them to pitch in with poison dripping general sarcasm as there is absolutely nothing they have to discuss in meritorical terms...

I had a discussion about oils here with a member here, JerryT. He referred me to lots of specialist reading on the subject, I read it all, digested, understood, admired publicly he was right and I was wrong and all lived happily ever after with me increasing my knowledge in the lubrication chemistry and physics department.

Does the vRS gain much from just a simple pad upgrade,maybe EBC green or yellowstuff? Are they 288mm standard?

It probably will if you find your OEM pads glazed due to prolonged high temps when on a track day or other "occasions"

Hopefully very few people who drive sensibly will regularly brake sufficiently enough to lock the wheels, in which case the same braking pressure applied to larger brakes will pull you up quicker than smaller brakes

If you are driving around on a daily basis locking wheels you (the proverbial you) maybe don't deserve to be on the road in the first place

Does the vRS gain much from just a simple pad upgrade,maybe EBC green or yellowstuff? Are they 288mm standard?

Ive never been a fan of EBC pads. Ive used yellowstuff pads before and they literally crumbled apart. But better pads such as Mintex M1114 or Ferrodo DS2500 have a better bite and continue to maintain their performance to a higher heat range so they wont fade as quickly. You still will be able to get them to fade on track though as the discs are not capable of dissipating the heat that well due to their size.

That said you could delve into the upper spectrum of the Pagid or Project Mu ranges of pad which are over double the price of the likes of Ferrodo or mintex fast road pads. These will maintain their effectiveness on track all day long without fading but you will loose out on their performance when cold.

Id also reccommend upgrading to a decent Dot 4 fluid as well. Ive used a few brands some cheaper, some more expensive. I have settled for Motul RBF600 which is a really good price and performs more than good enough for hard track sessions.

Dear Lord! It's bloody hopeless...

Yes, the only way I know how to brake is to stomp on the rake pedal as hard as possible and pray that I did early enough to have sufficient space to slide to a stop... No clue, huh?

Ive never been a fan of EBC pads. Ive used yellowstuff pads before and they literally crumbled apart. But better pads such as Mintex M1114 or Ferrodo DS2500 have a better bite and continue to maintain their performance to a higher heat range so they wont fade as quickly. You still will be able to get them to fade on track though as the discs are not capable of dissipating the heat that well due to their size.

That said you could delve into the upper spectrum of the Pagid or Project Mu ranges of pad which are over double the price of the likes of Ferrodo or mintex fast road pads. These will maintain their effectiveness on track all day long without fading but you will loose out on their performance when cold.

Id also reccommend upgrading to a decent Dot 4 fluid as well. Ive used a few brands some cheaper, some more expensive. I have settled for Motul RBF600 which is a really good price and performs more than good enough for hard track sessions.

And that is an excellent customer advice in that poster FINDS certain products better than others and should taken as such

If you are driving around on a daily basis locking wheels you (the proverbial you) maybe don't deserve to be on the road in the first place

This is what ive been saying. Yes of course the braking distance will be worse if you lock your brakes all the time. But who does!!!

Im sure we've all locked out brakes every now and then but its not a frequentoccurrencethat's for sure, at least i hope its not.

Racing cars often lock their brakes and over shoot the corners. Is that the brakes or the drivers fault?

people who never read a paragraph of mechanical engineering theory tend to become self professed authorities just because they wallets say they spend enough money with tuners who MUST know what they are doing by definition ( some cannot even resolve such a basic problem as misfire lol). Again, human psychology is a wonderful thing and subconsciously works wonders for us all to keep us from depression.

@Jabo.

im not professing to be a self confessed authority.

You are the person who has come on here professing to know about exactly how brakes work, how ECUs can be cracked, how the tuners could be breaking the law, how suspension works, how to design a charge cooler, why the car misfires, the intricate details of piston failure.

What ive said is all personal experience and from recommendations from companies who specialise in race cars, tuning or brakes etc.

Anyway. Lets stop the bickering now. Im bored of it.

Back on topic.......

@ the OP. Apologies for dragging this slightly off topic lol.

The front hubs are identical to the vRS which is of course identical to the Mk4 Golf paltform

The 312mm brakes front from a Mk4 Golf Anniversary, Mk1 Octy vRS, Mk1 Leon etc will fit. If you want to go a little more adventurous but stay OEM and cost effective look at the Mk4 Golf R32 twinpot setup. It might need a small spacer to clear the caliper though. I wouldnt bother looking at the Leon Cupra 4 pot upgrades as they are sought after and come with a little more scene tax on them.

Rather reluctant to get involved in all this,but my comments will be short and simple,as usual.

Yes,a simple brake pad upgrade is worthwhile and I agree the Ferodo and Mintex products mentioned are good and I too have had a bad experience with the EBC ones.

My other comment is that the original query related to the Monte..with drums on the rear.I would be wary of a big front brake change alone.I appreciate that the rear does little work relative to the front,but the work done by the rears will still increase,so they might become overheated while the fronts are still Ok.

So harder compound shoes on the rear or preferably rear discs from the VRs would also be desirable?

My other comment is that the original query related to the Monte..with drums on the rear.I would be wary of a big front brake change alone.I appreciate that the rear does little work relative to the front,but the work done by the rears will still increase,so they might become overheated while the fronts are still Ok.

So harder compound shoes on the rear or preferably a rear discs from the VRs would also be desirable?

Why would the work done by the rears increase with a front brake upgrade?

A good brake upgrade is matched to the master cylinder. The total piston(one side of the caliper) CSA of the upgraded calipers should match that of the stock piston CSA (typically -0%\+7-8% over OEM is deemed acceptable according to VAGBREMTECHNIK). This is why some 4 pot Porsche calipers work really well on this platform whilst other Porsche 4 pots make it substantially worse. This should have no impact on the rear setup from what i can work out. That is assuming that the Monte shares the same master cylinder as the vRS though.

That said the Monte wont reach power levels that require anything too substantial being required. A simple 312mm kit with good pads id imagine will be ample.

Sy,I confess I don't under stand the technical bits.I am only looking at it simply and I may be wrong.

Front upgrade improves things so you go faster so your brakes need to dissipate more heat.

Because you are going faster the rear brakes also need to work harder and dissipate more heat,they may be up to it or they may not.

Fair point. I was surprised the Monte had drums tbh, although as someone else pointed out,one of the main reasons the vRS got rear discs is because its reviews would have been dominated by the fact that it was the only ot hatch with drums had they gone that route.

IMO I dont think it would make a significant difference. As said before, what sort of power would a Monte be looking at with a stage 2 De-DPF or even a hybrid turbo. Id imagine it wont go past 180hp region, so performance wise its not going to require a massive BBK without it becoming overkill, only a minor upgrade such as the 312mm kit will be needed which youronly looking at an increase in 15% CSA which isnt going to create this sudden and massive change in braking bias or sudden exponential increase in heat on the rears, but it will dissipate heat better over the front, provide greater braking torque and with good pads and fluid handle heat in a much more useful fashion.

Does Monte have EBD?

not as standard, think it may be an optional extra, don't quote me on it though.

I am asking since if it has it will most certainly be working those brakes harder to keep the car balanced under braking. However having drums at the rear I doubt it has EBD.

according to the brochure the only thing that can be specified as an option is either:-

ESP inc ABS + ASR + EDL + HBA or......

ESP Plus (ESP inc TPM+HHC)

no mention of XDS, or electronically controlled differential

I doubt many of them would of been specified with the above as a £400-£500 extra - I spent money on other options instead

if I were to do any brake upgrade on my Monte I'd start at the back first and swap the drums for discs!

The thing with that though is the braking improvement versus cost would be terrible. Theres approx 15% bias over the rear axle. IMO, in the grand scheme of things over the entire chassis its probably not going to be worth the effort at all unless you have loads of cash spare. More of "ive done everything else, this will be the icing on the cake" type mod.

ie a small upgrade on the front will be far more noticeable than a big upgrade at the rear.

If you want to upgrade and have some results upgrade front and back and tyres at the same time. If it is installed in Monte EBD system adjusts brake bias dynamically based on the data from load sensors on each wheel. If Monte doesn't have EBD then neutral bias is 70% front and 30% rear based on 980kg max front axle load and 840 rear with 50% dynamic weight distribution during braking. I'd say the bias is shifted to the front to make the car less tail happy and to give "better braking feel" so perhaps 75% front and 25% rear.

I am not sure about the axle loads, it is written on a tag on the driver door pillar under "1" and "2"